COLLURICINCLA PARVULA, Gould.
Little Colluricincla.
Colhiricincla parvula, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., May 27, 1845.
T h i s species, to which I have given the name o f parvula, from the circumstance o f its being the smallest of
the genus that has come under my notice, is a native of Port Essington and the neighbouring parts o f the
northern coast o f Australia. Mr. Gilbert, to whose notes I must refer for all that is known about it, states
that it is an inhabitant o f the thickets; is an extremely shy bird, and is generally seen on or near the
ground. Its note is a fine thrush-like tone, very clear, loud and melodious. The stomach is muscular, and
the food consists of insects of various kinds,: but principally o f coleóptera. The nest and eggs were brought
me by a native; they were taken from the hollow part o f a tree about four feet from the ground; the former,
which was too much injured to be preserved, was formed o f small twigs and narrow strips of the bark o f a
Melaleuca. The eggs were two in number, o f a beautiful pearly flesh-white, regularly spotted all over with
dull reddish orange and umber-brown; like the eggs o f the other species o f the genus, they are also
sprinkled over with bluish markings, which appear as if beneath the surface o f the sh e ll; their medium
length is one inch, and breadth nine lines.
The sexes are so nearly alike in plumage, that they are not readily distinguished from each other ; but
the male is somewhat larger than his mate.
All the upper surface, wings and tail olive-brown ; a faint line over the eye and the chin white; all the
under surface pale buff, the feathers of the throat and breast with a broad stripe of brown down the centre;
irides dark brownish red; bill blackish grey; tarsi bluish grey.
The figures are of the natural size.